Taking place in County Kildare from 27 January to 6 February 2024, and marking 1500 years since the passing of Ireland’s foremost female saint, Brigid 1500 is a major cultural event which will celebrate the extraordinary life of St Brigid.

Launch of Brigid 1500 Festival

Brigid 1500 will bring together artists, performers, enthusiasts, communities and visitors to celebrate St Brigid in a contemporary way with a culturally rich programme of events.

St Brigid, who was born around 453 AD and died in 524, is one of Ireland’s three national saints, along with St Patrick and St Columba. Her feast day on February 1 marks the traditional beginning of spring in Ireland according to the Celtic calendar.

The festival programme will engage with the values that St Brigid championed such as faith and spirituality, biodiversity and sustainability, arts and culture, social justice, peace, hospitality and education.

Launch of Brigid 1500 Festival

Highlights of Brigid 1500 will include a St Brigid’s day concert featuring leading Irish artists, a Pause for Peace which will call upon people worldwide to observe a one-minute silence, and a musical evening featuring songs of social justice and freedom.

A line-up of renowned female chefs will present Mother Earth: A Day of Food and Music. Specially commissioned St Brigid artworks will be unveiled as part of the programme, along with an artists’ exhibition, honorary window displays and theatre programmes.

Light shows will feature prominently in the festival. A candlelight pilgrimage and ritual at St Brigid’s Well will take place on January 31 and two grand fiery processional events will take place in the towns of Maynooth and Kildare. The tower on the Hill of Allen will be bathed in white light to symbolise hope for the new year.

St Brigid’s Cathedral and Round Tower, Kildare (photo credit: Gareth Wray)

Sonya Kavanagh, CEO of Kildare County Council, said: “The Brigid 1500 Programme that has been curated reflects the vibrant and diverse community of Kildare. We look forward to a calendar of events filled with cultural enrichment and we are inviting everyone to partake in the festivities, commemorating St. Brigid the woman, the life, and the legacy.”

St Brigid is said to have been an abbess who is credited with founding the Abbey of Kildare as well as a number of convents, however there are very few historical facts about her, it is mainly anecdotes and miracle tales that survive.

Her feast day falls on the Celtic festival of Imbolc, marking the midpoint between the winter equinox and spring solstice, and is now a public holiday in Ireland. In the run up to St Brigid’s Day, it is customary to make a St Brigid’s cross from rushes or straw to display in the home as protection from fire and evil.

St Brigid’s Well, Kildare  (photo credit: Gareth Wray)

Monks and scholars leaving Ireland from the sixth century onwards carried the story of Brigid’s life and devotion to England, Scotland and Wales and into continental Europe. In the Middle Ages, St Brigid was better known in Europe than St Patrick. From the 18th century onwards, missionaries and migrants carried St Brigid’s name to the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and the wider world.

However, Kildare in Ireland’s Ancient East is the place most associated with the saint, who is known as St Brigid of Kildare. A trip to Kildare should be sure to include a visit to St Brigid’s Cathedral and Round Tower – one of Ireland’s most significant ecclesiastical sites, where St Brigid is said to be buried – and St Brigid’s Well, just outside the town.

If you or your group would like follow in the footsteps of St Brigid and the other Irish saints on a tailor-made pilgrimage in Ireland, please do contact our friendly team today.